Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in
Follow live for latest news and updates on January 6 hearings in Congress
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile
Jan 6 committee member says Trump attempting to witness tamper is ‘highly improper’
After months trying to have his trial delayed, far-right agitator and Trump ally Steve Bannon is now in court facing a charge of criminal contempt of Congress, with prosecutors arguing he simply “decided he was above the law” when refusing to comply with a subpoena from the 6 January select committee.
“This case is not about what happened on Jan. 6,” said assistant US attorney Amanda Vaughan in court. “This case is about the defendant thumbing his nose at the orderly processes of our government.”
Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani has been ordered by a judge to testify to the grand jury convened in Fulton County, Georgia to hear evidence on Donald Trump’s efforts to throw out Joe Biden’s victory in that state.
Tomorrow will see the eighth of the 6 Jaunary committee’s summer hearings, this one focusing on Mr Trump’s hours of inaction at the White House while a mob of his supporters violently attacked Congress.
The prime-time hearing today will focus on the 187 minutes of Donald Trump’s presidentship, the last of his tenure in 2021, during which he failed to act as thousands of his supporters ran amok and caused a riot.
The Jan 6 House committee will intend to show how the outgoing president in his defeat attempted to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory and how it has left the US battling with questions about the resilience of its democracy.
In the more than three hours that the panel will investigate today, it will also note pleas made from the former president’s aides, allies and family members.
Mr Trump has been charged with doing nothing to stop the violent demonstration but instead “gleefully” watching it on television at the White House.
Former national security official in the Trump White House, Matthew Pottinger, and a former press aide, Sarah Matthews will be the next witnesses at a prime-time hearing of the Jan 6 committee this week.
The duo will join Cassidy Hutchinson who was a former assistant to Mark Meadows, Trump’s final chief of staff, today.
Ms Hutchinson had tendered her resignation as deputy press secretary on the day of the attack, while Mr Pottinger resigned after the attack.
It is not immediately clear what the two White House insiders will share today as the details have been kept under wraps.
However, the hearing will focus on the actions of the former president and the lack of them, at a time hundreds of his protestors swarmed the US capitol to stop the transfer of power to Democrat leader Joe Biden.
It is likely that the two former White House officials could detail what was happening behind the scenes as Mr Trump resisted pleas from family, aides and Republicans to denounce the riot and ask people to vacate the premises, bringing the scene of riot to a halt.
ICYMI: Dan Cox, a far-right Maryland legislator endorsed by former president Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for state governor on Tuesday.
Mr Cox defeated moderate rival Kelly Schulz who was backed by outgoing governor Larry Hogan.
The governor who was prohibited from running for a third consecutive term in a majorly Democratic state had backed Ms Schulz, a former member of his cabinet, to be the successor to his bipartisan leadership, reported the Associated Press.
Cox is the third ultra conservative state legislator backed by the former president to win Republican nominations for governor
ICYMI: Rusty Bowers, Republican speaker of the Arizona state House, was censured by his own party on Tuesday as his political punishment for testifying to the January 6 committee continues.
The 69-year-old Republican lawmaker is likely to lose his primary election on 2 August against a Trump loyalist who has claimed that Satan helped Joe Biden steal the election from Donald Trump.
But that isn’t enough revenge for allies of the former president in the state, including GOP state party chair Kelli Ward, another far-right supporter of election fraud conspiracy theories: the state party has now formally voted to censure Mr Bowers, a largely meaningless gesture that states that he is no longer in “good standing” with the party.
GOP lawmaker who bucked Trump is likely to lose primary election
Donald Trump, his current wife Melania, and his three children paid their respect to Mr Trump’s first wife Ivana yesterday in New York City at a funeral mass.
Before heading out to pay his respect, Mr Trump said: “A very sad day, but at the same time a celebration of a wonderful and beautiful life.”
“This will not be easy!!!” the former president said on his social media platform Truth Social.
He was joined in by Donald Jr, Ivanka, and Eric to commemorate the 1980s style icon and businesswoman credited to be behind Mr Trump’s empire which paved his road to presidency.
Her gold-coloured coffin was taken into St Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Former US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump along with their son Barron Trump and Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and their children watch as the casket of Ivana Trump is put in a hearse outside of St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church during her funeral in New York City on Wednesday
Former president Donald Trump and Melania Trump exit the funeral of Ivana Trump at St Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church in New York City
Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump follow the casket of Ivana Trump out of St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church during her funeral
ICYMI: Donald Trump has seized on a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling which outlaws ballot drop boxes in future elections, claiming that the court’s ruling that the Wisconsin Election Commission exceeded its authority by authorising drop box use as a pandemic mitigation measure means President Joe Biden’s win in state is invalid.
The former president is now pressuring Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to do something about this. “So what’s Speaker Robin Vos doing on the Great Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling declaring hundreds of thousands of Drop Box votes to be illegal?” he asked in a statement.
In reality, the court ruling did not invalidate a single vote cast by drop box. And neither Mr Vos nor the Wisconsin legislature have the authority to retroactively invalidate votes or rescind electoral votes.
But that has not stopped Mr Trump from arguing to the contrary.
‘I explained that it's not allowed under the Constitution, he has a different opinion’
ICYMI: Rudy Giuliani has been ordered by a New York Supreme Court judge to appear for testimony in front of a grand jury investigating election tampering in Georgia.
Mr Giuliani, who was part of a legal team assembled by Donald Trump to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, failed to appear at the “show cause” hearing in which he was due to challenge a subpoena that called him to testify.
Richard Hall has the story.
Giuliani was part of a legal team assembled by Donald Trump to overturn 2020 election results
ICYMI: The Secret Service has only provided one text exchange to the DHS inspector general despite receiving a request for a month of texts from 24 members of staff.
The news was revealed in a letter to the January 6 committee, CNN reported.
Assistant Director Ronald Rowe said in a letter to the panel that “the Secret Service submitted the responsive records it identified, namely, a text message conversation from former US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to former Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Thomas Sullivan requesting assistance on January 6, 2021, and advised the agency did not have any further records responsive to the DHS OIG’s request for text messages”.
California Democrat and January 6 panel member Zoe Lofgren told MSNBC on Tuesday that the committee had been sent “one text message” that she hadn’t reviewed at that time. She said the committee would be “pursuing more information as a committee soon”.
Read more from Gustaf Kilander:
‘The Secret Service adamantly denied that they were either stonewalling ... or that the text messages were lost’, Florida Democrat says
ICYMI: In a 25 May internal memo, Attorney General Merrick Garland has extended a 2020 Department of Justice (DOJ) policy instituted by his predecessor, Trump Attorney General Bill Barr. The policy states that investigators must get approval for any investigations into presidential candidates or their staff with the country’s top law enforcement official.
The memo was obtained by MSNBC, with host Rachel Maddow revealing it on Monday night.
According to the policy, investigators must obtain written approval from the attorney general before opening an investigation into people who have declared that they are running for either president or vice president. The policy also applies to presidential campaigns, as well as senior members of campaigns for president, such as advisors.
The news comes as Mr Garland is facing increasing pressure to bring charges against former President Donald Trump as the House Select Committee investigating January 6 reveals more and more about his actions in relation to the 2021 insurrection.
While he’s yet to announce a 2024 campaign, Mr Trump has hinted on several occasions that he’ll run again.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
‘Garland if you want to be neutral, political activity would have no bearing whatsoever on your work’ said DC Police Officer Daniel Hodges
Even after 47 Republican members of the House of Representatives voted to codify same-sex marriage into law on Tuesday, many Republican Senators would rather talk about anything else.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he had tasked Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin to talk to Republican Senators about the legislation.
Eric Garcia has the story.
Many see it either as a waste of time or want to focus on other topics.
Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism
By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists
{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}
By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.
Already have an account? sign in
By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.
Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism
By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists
{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}
By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.
Already have an account? sign in
By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Former White House Chief Strategist in the Trump administration Steven Bannon arrives at the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC, on 19 July 2022
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in
Or if you would prefer: